The invention relates to a coffee bean packaging cartridge having an interior volume for accommodating coffee beans. In particular the invention relates to such cartridges that form part of a system for preparing coffee beverages and can be hermetically sealed prior to use.
It is known to pack roasted coffee beans in gastight containers that can be connected to coffee brewing apparatus that include a grinding mechanism. For such systems to be efficient the containers have often been designed to hold between 1 kg and 3 kg of coffee beans. The contents of such containers will be a single type or a single blend of coffee beans. Discerning consumers are increasingly interested in having a choice of freshly ground bean varieties for their coffee beverage. The known bean containers for use in coffee beverage systems fall short of offering a choice of coffee beans or blends of coffee beans. Once the known container has been installed on the known coffee brewing apparatus, it must first be completely emptied before it can be exchanged by a container holding a different variety or blend of coffee beans. While it has been proposed by WO 2004/023956 to use coffee bean containers that contain only a single serving of beans, this solution is also not without drawbacks. Apart from being less economic in terms packaging and waste control, it is also not possible to adjust the dosage of the single serving to the particular needs of a consumer, unless every bean variety or blend is additionally offered in differently sized or filled bean containers. The logistic difficulties associated with such an option are bound to make it unworkable in practise.